Being Saved
by radiation.vibe
Summary: After saving Caroline's life, Klaus begins to come to terms with his humanity and his growing feelings for Caroline. Rebekah reveals that she took the cure and is now human, causing Stefan, Klaus, and Caroline to go to great lengths to protect her mortality. (and much more. Klaroline/Stebekah, takes place immediately after 4x13.)


**This picks up right after Klaus saves Caroline's life in 4x13. Like immediately after that scene. I don't own TVD or any of the characters. **

**Thank you so much for reading & reviewing! New chapters are on their way!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Her hands wrapped around his wrist as she drank in the hybrid blood that would save her life.

This was the second time he let her drink from him. The first time it happened it was right after Tyler accidentally bit her on her birthday. She was scared and angry then, and Klaus gave Caroline the choice to drink from him and save her life. This time it was different. He was the one who bit her. He bit her intentionally. And he was the one who decided whether she would live or die. He literally held her life in his hands.

So why did he choose to save her? He couldn't stop thinking about what she had just said to him. _I know that you're in love with me. And anybody capable of love is capable of being saved._ Love? It couldn't be love. In his thousand-year life as a vampire he had never once loved anyone except his family, and they all betrayed and hurt him in one way or another. He vowed a long time ago to never feel love for anyone again. Love is a vampire's greatest weakness. It only ever leads to pain.

But for some strange reason he didn't want her to die. Was she right, was there still some part of him that could feel? A part of him that was human? This was bad news for Klaus. If he had any humanity left in him it could ruin him. It was a weakness, and Caroline's friends would figure out a way to kill him by using it. And he just made the biggest mistake of all - by letting Caroline drink from him and saving her life he was basically admitting to her that she was right, that he did care and that he did have a little bit of humanity in him. He was so stupid. How could he expose himself so obviously like that? No doubt her friends would find out about his moment of weakness, and they would inevitably use it against him.

But he just couldn't let her die.

He felt her lips slowly depart from his skin as she finished drinking his blood. Her hands still wrapped around his wrist as she turned her head around to look him in the eyes. She looked exhausted, but she was alive.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Klaus looked at her for a moment, considering her regained immortality. "You must be tired. Go to sleep," he said gently placing her head back down on the pillow of the couch. She dozed off almost immediately as Klaus sat on the coffee table and watched her breathe.

* * *

Tyler opened the door to the Gilbert house slowly, dreading the scene inside. He was sure that the plan that he and Caroline made would work, but there was still a small chance that Klaus would let her die. After all he didn't think twice about killing Tyler's mother or Jenna or all of the other hybrids. Tyler had placed his girlfriend's life in the hands of a monster, and her survival rested entirely on the condition that Klaus had feelings for Caroline. Of course Tyler wasn't happy about this, but if Klaus' feelings meant that Caroline would live then it would all be worth it.

Klaus was standing by the window and turned to face Tyler as he entered the living room. The two hybrids glared at each other in silence for a moment before Tyler noticed Caroline asleep on the couch.

She was still, but he could tell she was breathing. She was alive. Klaus had saved her. Tyler felt a wave of relief wash over him. She did it, she convinced Klaus that she didn't hate him. She gave him hope that she might someday forgive him for what he had done. And he wanted her to forgive him, which means that part of him is human and cares about her enough to save her life. Their plan had worked.

From the way Klaus was looking at him Tyler could tell that he was not happy to see him there. Tyler had to be extremely careful with what he was about to do if he wanted to get himself and Caroline out of here safely.

Tyler walked slowly over to the couch and kneeled down by Caroline's head. With his right hand he tucked a strand of her golden blonde hair behind her ear, and she woke up to his touch. "Tyler!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck with so much intensity that he almost fell over. He hugged her back. "I'm so happy to see you," he whispered in her ear, and a huge smile broke out on her face. "Are you okay?" he asked, backing out of the embrace and looking into her eyes. "I'm fine," she whispered with a smile.

She glanced over to Klaus, and her expression changed suddenly. She looked worried. Tyler followed her gaze and understood why. Klaus was fuming. It looked like he might snap at any minute and kill them both, despite having just saved Caroline's life only a few hours earlier.

"Come on, we should leave," Tyler said as he helped Caroline off the couch. He wanted them to leave immediately and get as far away from Klaus as possible. He took her hand to lead her out of the room, but she stopped him.

"Wait," she said, dropping his hand and turning to Klaus. She walked over and stood before him, looking directly into his eyes.

"You did the right thing," she said after a pause.

He gritted his teeth. She could see tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"I just wanted to say thank you, again," she said, hoping he would see that she was being earnest.

"_Get. Out." _he said angrily, stepping forward and getting a little too close to Caroline, who stumbled backwards in response.

Tyler didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Caroline and whisked her out of the door in an instant.

* * *

Klaus was pacing around the living room of the Gilberts' house. He was starving - he hadn't had a drink of blood in five days. He was still trapped in the living room with nothing but the rotting corpse of his brother Kol in the kitchen to keep him company. _Five bloody days,_ he thought to himself angrily. _Why the hell hasn't that witch's spell worn off yet?!_ The group that went to find the cure still hadn't returned, and Klaus was getting extremely frustrated. He knew that when they got back they would attempt to force him to take the cure then kill him as a human. Or maybe this was part of the plan, to starve him until he's so weak that they wouldn't need to use force. Whatever they had planned, Klaus was not going to let them kill him. He was going to be ready. But in the meantime he was angry, starving, and alone.

"I was told I'd find you here."

Klaus whipped around to see his brother Elijah standing in the foyer.

"Hello, brother," Klaus responded, not bothering to hide the pain and anger evident in his voice.

Elijah walked slowly into the kitchen and stood beside the covered remains of his sibling. "Kol or Rebekah?" he asked somberly.

"Kol," Klaus replied. "Our sister has joined forces with the Salvatores, the Doppelgänger, the witch and the hunter to find a way to kill us all."

Elijah knelt down by Kol's body and placed his hand on the green tablecloth that covered his remains. "What did Kol do to them?" he asked.

"Absolutely nothing."

"He must have done something, Niklaus. They wouldn't have killed him if he hadn't provoked them."

"How should I know what he did?!" Klaus was growing angrier. "All I know is that he called me to tell me that the Doppelgänger and her hunter brother were trying to kill him, and by the time I got here he was going down in flames with a white oak stake in his heart."

Elijah closed his eyes and sat silently for a moment next to his dead brother. Despite the torment his siblings had put him through for the past thousand years, he never wanted them to die. They were his family, and he loved them despite their misgivings.

"I knew something was wrong when I heard that hundreds of vampires were mysteriously dropping dead around the world," he explained. "There was only one explanation - that one of my siblings had been killed and that these dead vampires were their sire-line. I figured I'd come back to Mystic Falls to see if I was correct in my assumption." He stood up but kept his eyes fixed on his brother's corpse before him.

Klaus walked over to the doorway that separated the kitchen from the living room and stopped in front of his brother. "Jeremy and Elena Gilbert will pay for what they've done to us," he said quietly, his eyes fixed on his only living brother.

Elijah looked up and met Klaus' gaze. "Are you planning to kill them?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Klaus asked with a smirk.

"I understand that you are angry, brother, but killing Elena and Jeremy is not the answer."

"Well then how do you propose we deal with them? Hm? They need to learn their lesson, Elijah. They can not expect to murder our siblings and get away with it." Klaus' voice was getting louder, his temper rising as he remembered the image of seeing his brother Kol engulfed in flames.

Elijah took a deep breath and placed his right hand on his brother's shoulder. "You have all done terrible things to each other in the past, Niklaus. You have killed people that they love, and they have done the same in return. But by hurting them again you will only strengthen their resolve to find a way to destroy you. Do not empower your enemies, brother."

This was not easy to hear, but of course Elijah was right. Klaus wanted them to bring the cure back to Mystic Falls so that he could destroy it and ensure his own survival. That was all he wanted from them. Maybe someday he would exact his revenge, but fanning the fire now would only make them angrier and more determined than ever to destroy his life. In order to protect his remaining siblings he must restrain his vengeance.

"Perhaps we should leave Mystic Falls for a while," suggested Elijah. "It would do you good to get away from this town."

"I can't leave..." Klaus began.

"Because of the Doppelgänger, I know," Elijah answered. Klaus didn't protest, though Elena's blood was not his reason.

"You don't need the Hybrids, Niklaus," Elijah continued. "At least not now, while you still have Rebekah and myself. We will protect each other from here on out. When our sister gets back from her trip the three of us shall leave this town and find a better life somewhere where we are not in any immediate danger."

Klaus looked up at his older brother and saw the look of concern on Elijah's face. Elijah must have been able to tell that Klaus was beginning to become vulnerable, and whatever the reason for it he was not interested in allowing his younger brother to walk right into a situation that might get himself killed.

"As soon as she returns," Klaus agreed cautiously, "We will ask our sister to come with us. She may not choose to do so. I believe she's beginning to fancy the younger Salvatore brother, and we both know what happens when we try to get between her and her latest obsession..."

Just then the front door to the Gilbert house opened and in walked Rebekah, Stefan, Elena and Damon. Elena seemed like she was in shock for some unknown reason. The Salvatore brothers looked concerned, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Something seemed different about Rebekah, though. She didn't walk in with her usual force and presence. She seemed weaker. It was a subtle difference, but it caught Klaus' attention.

"Back so soon?" he asked with a sarcastic smirk. The hunting party was quiet.

"Where's the hunter and the witch?" he asked.

Elena let out a quiet sob. "Bonnie's with Jeremy," Stefan explained somberly. "He was killed trying to get the cure."

"My sincere condolences," Elijah said to Elena, who nodded with gratitude.

Klaus didn't care about this at all. He was actually glad that Jeremy was dead - it was one less Gilbert to punish.

"So is Bonnie going to let me out of here or what?" Klaus finally asked. He was past the point of impatience, and he was sure that the present company could tell. "Or are you going to keep me trapped in here until you feed me the cure and kill me as a human? That is what you're planning to do, am I right?" he asked.

"We're not going to feed you the cure..." Stefan began to explain.

"And why is that?" Klaus interrupted, part relieved that his life would be spared but also a bit disappointed in the lack of follow-through of his enemies.

"Because we don't have it anymore," Damon finished his brother's thought.

"Ah yes," Klaus remembered out loud. "The cure was only good for one dose. So, who was the lucky victim?" He asked with a smile, looking hopefully at Elena. If she were human again not only could he use her blood to create more hybrids but it would also be so much easier to kill her when he was finished draining her of her blood.

The group stood in silence. It was obvious that the group was reluctant to tell him, and Klaus assumed that it was because they didn't want him to learn that Elena was human only to kill her the moment he was set free from the room.

"Come on, don't be afraid to tell me," Klaus encouraged them. He was enjoying watching them squirm, knowing that he would surely take this information and use it against them in the worst way.

"Nik..." started Rebekah.

Klaus turned to his sister and saw that she was beginning to cry. She walked over to him slowly and held his hand in hers, then looked over to Elijah who was also starting to tear up.

That's when it hit him.

"No..." Klaus breathed, trying to grasp the fact that his little sister was no longer immortal.


End file.
